TEMPE, Ariz.---Acclaimed Arizona roots-rockers Carol Pacey and the Honey Shakers spent years and countless shows distilling their own 100-proof Americana. But for Carol Pacey, "Americana" doesn't just mean the same old heartland rock. Sometimes, it doesn't even come from America.

"During the 2012 London Olympics, the Phoenix New Times' Melissa Fossum shared a clip of Frank Turner performing," said Pacey. "I listened to it and I was like--"That's it!" I just hadn't seen anyone just jam on an acoustic guitar before, like I was becoming, and doing, with having this band now. I saw him and I was just blown away. He's a singer songwriter who came from a punk background, who started playing solo shows, and working like crazy, and I'm like--exactly. I felt like I finally found someone I could relate to. He just plays his butt off, and that's my philosophy, too."

Pacey and the Honey Shakers' debut album Yeah Yeah Yeah is twelve all-original songs that have already inspired critic Mitchell Hillman to coin an entirely new genre. "…maybe the most perfect crossroads where Country Rock/Americana meets Power Pop…and at the speed most of it is presented it, it's like Americana Thrash Pop," Hillman said. "Amazing."

Whatever you call it, Yeah Yeah Yeah captures the mammoth energy of the Honey Shakers' legendary live shows, which have grown like wildfire over the last five years. The rocking opener, "Do You Think Someday," kicks off the album with a snare-drum snarl and a girl-power message straight outta Budokan. That resemblance is no accident.

"As I was driving around one day I heard Cheap Trick on the radio and I asked the guys if we could try a drum intro on 'Do You Think Someday,'" Pacey said "When we did it and I heard it, I knew it had to be the first song on the album."

"Fool" keeps the energy going with Pacey's trademark timing changes and a dynamite hook from her partner in crime, virtuoso guitarist Andy Borunda. His searing, Stonesy riffs power Yeah Yeah Yeah through its sudden twists and turns, and like all deep, lasting relationships, this one started on craigslist.

"My main band had fizzled out," said Andy. "I was doing a punk thing, and they fired me. And so I put a craigslist ad out."

"'Guitar player looking for something cool,'" Pacey recalled. "I was feeling cocky that day, so I answered it…I was in tears typing him, actually. 'Well, I think I'm *sobs* kinda cool'," she laughed. "My other guitarist had quit by email that very day." The pair bonded over their mutual love of the Refreshments, and each took a leap of faith that paid off.

"We have different strengths, and we're both open and respectful in doing what we do best," said Borunda. "What Keith Richards calls the art of weaving--that's what we do."

Center stage might seem a long way from the Colorado River, but she's got that covered too. In her day job, Pacey is a scientist whose work helps to save the lives of endangered fish species on that most imperiled of waterways. "I've been working with endangered Arizona fish since I moved to Arizona…These are long-lived fish, they can live at least 50 years."

Keeping up with Pacey is a tough job but somebody's got to do it. With Borunda on guitar duty, drummer Benno DeLuca talks about beats per minute with an incredulous look on his face, somehow not quite sure he lived through it. But he goes like a clockwork rocket. Bassist Dante Fiorenza is a more recent addition but has already locked in to the system like an ace. On Yeah Yeah Yeah, previous Honey Shakers bass player, Conrad Padilla, held down the low end.

"If it's under 200bpm, we don't play it!" Pacey laughed. "I want fun music. Some of our newer stuff is slower, but look--you have 45 minutes, right? and in that 45 minutes I really just want a good time. With everything that's going on in the world, I want our 45 minutes to be a respite from all that crap, and if it's at 200 beats per minute, so be it."

It's not just Frank Turner and England in the "Americana" mix--Pacey and the Honey Shakers have been known to travel South of the Border, too. Take "Happy Little Tune" and "Down In Mexico," for starters.

"'Happy Little Tune' was after an, um, adventure in a little venue in Mexico, and I was in the back of our family vehicle laying down after a few Pina Coladas, and I was scribbling on some paper I found," said Pacey, "and 'Down In Mexico' may or may not be autobiographical, but I will say my mother-in-law can picture the day, when she hears that song," she laughed.

When they took the songs to the studio, special guest Danny Torgensen of Tempe's rising star avant-prog kings Captain Squeegee improvised the Mariachi trumpet harmonies on the spot, channeling the ghosts of the Old Sonora in what all parties describe as a supernaturally cool experience.

"He started working his magic and I just let him go," Pacey said of Torgensen. "He'd never even heard the songs before he got to the studio. He went into the space and paced around. It was magnificent to watch. He was creating, and singing, and going to town. Joe (Asselin, the record's co-producer) helped guide him, and he improvised all the horn harmonies right there."

Whether it's rocking a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd packed into Tempe's Rogue Bar or getting 5,000 people on their feet at one of their high-octane festival shows, Pacey draws the crowd in with huge singalong anthems and her relentless never-say-die energy.

On Yeah Yeah Yeah, it's a beautiful noise indeed.

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"…maybe the most perfect crossroads where Country Rock/Americana meets Power Pop...and at the speed most of it is presented it, it's like Americana Thrash Pop--Amazing."--Mitchell HIllman, Sounds Around Town

"….the kind of alt-country rock that put Tempe on the map back in the '90s…Andy Borunda employs Johnny Marr-styled economic playing that makes the most of short guitar breaks -- smart, inventive lines, like his hornet's nest buzzlicks on "The Knitting Song" and the rapid-fire boogie fingering of "The Bonus."--Serene Dominic, AZCentral.com

"…on their raucous, runaway-train debut album, Carol Pacey and the Honey Shakers takes up the mantle of the Tempe Sound and aims for the stadium seats with twelve songs that capture the hooks, energy and winning appeal of their singalong festival shows."--Echo Magazine